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English departments are really dying

May 21, 2023 · Letters to the Editor · Comments Off on English departments are really dying

To the editor: Reading Mr. Phelps recent article, “Are English Departments Really Dying”, I was surprised by the conclusions he drew from the data he referenced at the U.S. Education … Continue reading “English departments are really dying”


Disadvantaging Black Students with a Demand for ‘Linguistic Justice’

Oct 9, 2020 · Matthew Stewart · Comments Off on Disadvantaging Black Students with a Demand for ‘Linguistic Justice’

On August 3, the Executive Committee of the Conference on College Composition and Communication approved a position statement on “Black Linguistic Justice.” The statement was crafted as a set of … Continue reading “Disadvantaging Black Students with a Demand for ‘Linguistic Justice’”


Why Literary Scholarship Matters

Apr 11, 2018 · R.V. Young · Comments Off on Why Literary Scholarship Matters

A recent book by Thomas L. Martin and Duke Pesta, The Renaissance and the Postmodern: A Study in Comparative Critical Values represents something of a critical cat among the contemporary … Continue reading “Why Literary Scholarship Matters”


Three Ways Declining English Departments Can Be Relevant Again

Mar 14, 2018 · Duke Pesta · Comments Off on Three Ways Declining English Departments Can Be Relevant Again

A major in English was once a serious endeavor masquerading as a frivolous one. Despite the occasional “do you want fries with that?” condescension from business or science students, the … Continue reading “Three Ways Declining English Departments Can Be Relevant Again”


Teaching Freshman English: It’s a Battlefield

Jul 28, 2017 · Rick Diguette · Comments Off on Teaching Freshman English: It’s a Battlefield

So you think you might like teaching college English. You love the language and its great works. Lots of people are like that, including me. Good, but beware. Teaching college … Continue reading “Teaching Freshman English: It’s a Battlefield”


The English major has lost its way; here is a path back.

Aug 29, 2014 · Troy Camplin · Comments Off on The English major has lost its way; here is a path back.

The English major has lost its way; here is a path back.


Maintaining the Status Quo in Teaching

Jun 8, 2014 · Troy Camplin · Comments Off on Maintaining the Status Quo in Teaching

Some administrators evaluate pedagogy not on whether it works but on whether it has been done for the past fifty years.


Literary Criticism without Literature

May 30, 2014 · Thomas Bertonneau · Comments Off on Literary Criticism without Literature

Few undergraduates have read more than the topical “edgy” fiction sold by hucksters to middle and high schools.


Too Late to Save English Departments?

Jan 30, 2014 · Mary Grabar · Comments Off on Too Late to Save English Departments?

The discipline of English is already in trouble, but there is more to come.

More in Letters to the Editor

  • English departments are really dying May 21, 2023

    To the editor: Reading Mr. Phelps recent article, “Are English Departments Really Dying”, I was surprised by the conclusions he drew from the data he referenced at the U.S. Education … Continue reading “English departments are really dying”

  • Beating the Kafka trap at GWU May 21, 2023

    To the editor: Which is chicken and which the egg? IF we take as a given — as the law firm hired by GWU evidently does — that the BDS Movement sweeping through college campuses nationwide … Continue reading “Beating the Kafka trap at GWU”

  • Defaulting on the NC Teaching Fellows scholarship has drastic consequences Apr 2, 2023

    To the editor: My name is Kendra Wiggins and I am a former NC Teaching fellow recipient. I really appreciate this article highlighting some of the pitfalls of the program. … Continue reading “Defaulting on the NC Teaching Fellows scholarship has drastic consequences”

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    It has become so generally known that the Left has infiltrated our colleges and universities that people seldom bother to produce the evidence of it. Without evidence, many who would … Continue reading “A Devastating Exposé of America’s Colleges”

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    On April 4 of this year, the academic-services firm Turnitin activated a software designed to catch a certain kind of student plagiarist. As has been widely discussed on the Martin … Continue reading “The State of AI-Chatbot Detection”

  • The Strange World of “Citational Justice” May 31, 2023

    The latest fresh hell is citational justice. Which is quotas for footnotes. Now we’re supposed to track the group identity of the authors we cite and make sure there are … Continue reading “The Strange World of “Citational Justice””

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